10/16/2008 @ 12:01AM

Android Ambitions

Google
‘s G1 phone is hitting stores in less than a week, but the company has been laying low since it unveiled the device a month ago.

Don’t let that fool you. The Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet giant has major ambitions for a mobile business based on its Android platform. “We’re excited about the G1 but, ultimately, this is a much bigger vision of tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of phones based on Android,” says Rich Miner, Google’s
group manager of mobile platforms.

HTC created the G1 handset, which goes on sale Oct. 22, and Google is working with Samsung,
Motorola
and LG on other Android phones that will hit the market in 2009. “They are internally doing development and, in some cases, already talking to carriers about devices,” Miner says.

New phones likely will look very different from the G1. Miner expects to see phones with smaller screens, perhaps in slider and flip models, that could sell for under $100. “Google is about the mass market,” he says. “The lower the cost is for someone to get online, the happier Google is.”

Future Android devices are also likely to work on WiMax, the fast wireless broadband technology championed by
Sprint
and
Clearwire
.

And while it may seem a given that other Android phones will be called “G2,” “G3″ and “G4,” Miner doubts that will happen. The G1 moniker was a T-Mobile branding decision, he says. Android’s open technology means that future devices don’t even need to mention Google. Says Miner, “I expect to see an explosion of Android devices with hardware and software that looks and feels more like different people’s brands.”

Media reports have pegged the number of pre-sold G1s at 400,000 to 500,000 units for the fourth quarter. Google and T-Mobile declined to confirm that figure or provide their own sales forecasts. T-Mobile, however, said it nearly tripled the number of phones available for delivery on Oct. 22 due to “heavy demand”.

The other half of the G1 launch is the Android Market–a virtual shop of applications built for Android by tech companies and independent developers. Though the Market is often compared with
Apple’s
App Store for the iPhone, Google appears to be taking a more leisurely approach.

When the App Store debuted in July, it housed more than 500 apps. Miner says a beta version of the Market will open its doors Oct. 22 with a few dozen apps, many culled from Google’s Android developer contest held earlier this year. More will follow, of course. Google estimates that there are more than 10,000 active Android developers around the world.

YouTube, the company’s wildly popular video-sharing site, provided a framework for the Market. Like YouTube’s videos, all Market apps will be free initially and can be rated using a five-star system. Google will highlight new and “most popular” apps, as well as “staff favorites,” similar to what Apple does in the App Store. Submitting an app will be as easy as uploading a video to YouTube, Miner promises. He hopes the “community-driven” system will prevent tricks such as falsely grading competitors’ apps.

Some of the early apps aren’t as visually dazzling as those available on the iPhone. But Miner says their strength lies in their smooth interaction with the rest of the phone and other applications.

Google has said it won’t take a cut of app revenues once paid apps hit the Market, likely next year. So how will the company make money off Android? Advertising, of course. Ads will come to Android once Google feels it has “perfected the user experience” on mobile devices, including finding a “relevant and helpful way to present ads,” Miner says. “We’re not rushing to implement them, but they’re part of our long-term vision,” he notes.

Miner adds that Google’s search application for the iPhone has been successful and this should bode well for search advertising on Android phones. IPhone users log on to Google up to 50 times more often than other phone owners and Miner expects to see a similar–or higher–spike from Android users.